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Five treated for nausea at Sydney Orica site

Five people have been treated for dizziness, vomiting and nausea at an Orica site in Sydney's south-west.

Paramedics went to the Orica site in Villawood following a report that fumes could be smelt outside the site at 10.29am today.

A NSW Ambulance spokesperson confirmed five people had been treated for a range of symptoms, including dizziness, vomiting and nausea.

All five, who were Orica employees, declined hospital treatment, a company spokesperson said.

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The warehouse is a depot and stores a number of chemicals.

An internal investigation has been launched and and the NSW Environment Protection Authority has been notified.

Orica later said it had temporarily suspended operations at its Villawood warehouse as it investigated the source of the odour.

It has also notified the EPA, WorkCover and emergency services.

The company confirmed that seven employees had been referred for precautionary medical tests.

"Orica is continuing to investigate potential sources of the odour including working with the EPA to investigate potential offsite sources," it said in a statement.

The incident comes as Environment Minister Robyn Parker said the Environment Protection Authority would meet Orica this week to address community concerns about its Port Botany facility.

The government is being urged to launch an investigation into whether land around the Port Botany plant is contaminated with mercury.

The meeting follows a report by a mercury remediation expert who claims Orica has never properly investigated off-site contamination from the former ChlorAlkali site.

Andrew Helps, who heads a mercury remediation company and is a member of the UN's global mercury partnership, says tests should be conducted on the air and soil around houses and apartments in a 1.25-kilometre radius.

The minister said that, while she takes the community's concerns seriously, contamination issues at the site were a long-term problem.

"There has been testing done in the past and there's been work done to remediate some of the local waterways," she said.

"But certainly the EPA will be working with Orica to see what new information is, what the community concerns are. That's the role of the EPA, to keep Orica and other industries to task in terms of making sure that the community is protected.

"If there is a need for further independent testing, the EPA will take that on board."

The minister would not comment on Orica's argument that the mercury contamination came from dental fillings and broken thermometers.

Greens MP Cate Faehrmann today called on Ms Parker to intervene and force Orica to pay for independent testing, saying its defence was "ridiculous".

"Orica is the polluter, not the regulator," she said in a statement.

"The minister has to step in and take control and reassure the community their concerns are being taken seriously."